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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap. Ctfpyrjgtot No. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

A POEM 



BY 

LYMAN WHITNEY ALLEN 

I! 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK LONDON 

27 West Twenty-third Street 24 Bedford Street, Strand 

XTbc Tfcnfcfcevbocfccv press 
1896 



mvr-i^ 



.to-* 



Copyright, 1896 

BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London 



Ubc ftnlcfterbocJier prew, Hew Korfe 



This book is a revised edition of the prize poem, 
"Abraham Lincoln," published in The New York 
Herald \ December 15th, 1895. 



CONTENTS. 



Invocation 


3 


The Heart of Freedom . 


7 


Ships of Fate 


9 


A Dream of Empire .... 


*5 


/The Star of Sangamon 
\ The People's King 


21 


28 


Fort Sumter .... 


35 


Columbia's Wrath 


40 


The Call to Arms .... 


45 


The People's Response 


49 


The Gathering of the Legions 


56 


Our Volunteers 


58 


The Price of Liberty 


63 



VI CONTENTS. 








PAGE 


Bull Run 64 


The Nation's Prophet 






69 


The Night of Sorrow 






7i 


The Vigil .... 






73 


The Voice of Destiny 






77 


The Stroke of Justice 






81 


The Dawn .... 






83 


The Apotheosis . 






87 


The Voice of Martyrdom 






• 93 


The Pledge of History . 






97 


Our Soldiers 






101 


The Land of Promise 






107 



fltwocatioru 



INVOCATION. 

Of one great Ship that sailed the sea 
And weathered the infuriate blast ; 
Of one great Pilot that stood fast 

And brought her into lee, 



I sing ; and singing seek to use 

Thy founts of grace, as they of yore 

Sought and found service in thy store, 

O immemorial Muse ! 
3 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

The Grecian Poet, quaffing thence 
Castalian cheer, song's classic lord 
Awoke the mythic centuried chord 

Of life's diviner sense. 



The Florentine with screened eyes 
Caught rich and Beatrician gleam 
Of Eunoe's redemptive stream 

And beams of Paradise. 



The Seer of Horton, finding meet 
Thy rills beyond the hills of time, 
Set primal sorrow into rhyme, 

And sin to music sweet. 



INVOCATION. 

The Laureate of the Holy Grail, 

Deep-drinking, placed before thy face 
The Idyll-Epic of the race, 

The quest's supreme avail. 



The Cambridge Singer o'er the walls 
Of custom clomb, and roaming found, 
On far Itascan storied ground, 

The Laughing Water Falls ; 



The twilight of primeval pines, 
The leafy homes of plumed quires, 
Mondamin's green and golden spires, 

And Hiawatha's shrines. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

O ancient Muse forever young ! 

Guard of the poets' mystic spring ! 

Touch heart and tongue that I may sing 
Somewhat as they have sung, — 



One simple strain of that great song, 
Which ardent bards through future years, 
O'er ever-brightening hemispheres, 

Shall rapturously prolong ; 



Sweet burthen since the world began, 

Desire of every century, 

Imperious Love's sublime decree, — 
The brotherhood of man. 



THE HEART OF FREEDOM. 

The fragrant meadows of Runnymede 

Grow greener with every succeeding year ; 

The Ironside hoofs of the Puritan's steed 
Still crowd on the Cavalier. 



The laurel blooms upon Burial Hill ; 

The broken tablets are slabs of gold ; 
And Plymouth Rock in the winter's chill 

With summer is aureoled. 

7 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

The thunders of Concord and Lexington 
Roll on in music that will not die ; 

And one brave venture for Freedom done 
Immortally crowns July. 



White stars of dawn in a sky of blue, 
And bars of glory o'er land and sea, 

Shall float the emblem all ages through 
Of Union and Liberty. 



So stands our hope with its blessings spread, 

A magna charta inviolate ; 
The deathless soul of the patriot dead ; 

The heart of the living State. 



SHIPS OF FATE. 

Two paths apart on the misty main ; 

Two eager prows toward the beaconing West ; 
O'er crests of courage, through troughs of pain, 

Of life and of death possessed. 



Above the one from seraphic wings 

Blew friendly winds 'gainst the crowded sails; 

And fingers used to celestial strings 
Held back on the rushing gales. 



IO ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

Below the other a rising sweep 

Of forms foam-raimented ; raven hands 

Forced fiercely through the resentful deep 
Swift woe unto western lands. 



Fair Mayflower, breasting the wintry sea ! 

Thou wert the promise of wakening spring ; 
Embosoming Freedom's destiny 

And Liberty's issuing. 



Dark Slaver, touching Virginia's shore ! 

With captives laden from mast to keel ; 
Thou wert the sign of the deepening sore 

Of wrong that could only heal 



SHIPS OF FATE. II 

In smoke of battle and streams of blood, 
In orphan cries unto winds and waves, 

In tears of precipitate widowhood 
Bedewing a million graves. 



H Dream of Empire* 



13 



A DREAM OF EMPIRE. 

A FRUITFUL land 'neath Southern skies, 
With verdant fields and blossomed meads 

And o'er the seas increasing rise 

The cries of Europe's greatening needs. 



Wide-stretching belts of meltless snows 

Through swarms of swarthy forms displayed ; 

And purple wealth to golden grows 

Along the thoroughfares of trade. 
15 



l6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

A dream of empire such as ne'er 
Glowed on the vision of the race ; 

A bounteous breadth of tropic sphere, 
A luminous ocean-rounded space, 



From Hatteras to Panama, 
And summer shores of Mazatlan, 

To copper hills of Arriba 

Beyond the bays of Yucatan ; 



And on o'er Amazonian plain, 

Past Pampean sea and jewelled bourn, 
Through Incan trails and tracks of Spain, 

One empire to the Southern Horn. 



A DREAM OF EMPIRE. IJ 

An empire with its gilded throne 

By flesh and blood enslaved wrought ; 

An empire with its pillared zone 

Of states, whose founders nobly fought 



For right and faith, but failed to trace, 
The while their life-blood stained the sod, 

Within the negro's ebon face 
The image of Almighty God. 



And later scions holding fast 
Their legacies of sophistry, 

Preferred the world's discordant past, 
Forsook the footsteps of the free, 



1 8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

To tread apart revulsive ways, 

Back from the ascending trend of things, 
Back toward the nations' yesterdays, 

Hand unto hand again with kings. 



Uhc Star ot Sangamon, 



19 



THE STAR OF SANGAMON. 



A nation called through the gloom 

In one long wail of despair, 

One multitudinous prayer, 

'Neath portent of hastening doom ; 

And myriad strained eyes 

Were lifted to lowering skies. 

But on a sudden the night 
Was shaken : a marvellous light 
Burst forth, an effulgent spark 
Against the o'erwhelming dark. 



22 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

It waxed, it whitened, it shone 
Aflame in the widening zone 
Of dawn ; and a world intent 
Read, scanning the firmament, 
God's covenant blazed thereon, 
America's horoscope, 
The sign of a Nation's hope, 
The Star of Sangamon. 



Not out of the East but the West 
A Star and a Savior rose ; 
A light to an eager quest, 
A spirit of grace possessed, 
Of faith 'mid increasing woes, 
Of wisdom manifest. 



THE STAR OF SANGAMON. 23 

And, forth from the variant past 
Of thraldom's darkness, at last 
God's measureless love for man 
Wrought through heredity's dower 
The great American, 
Whose soul was the perfect flower 
Of patriot planting in soil 
Kept moist by blood and tears, 
And fertile by faithful toil 
Throughout unnumbered years. 



Nor accident nor chance, 
But heavenly ordinance 
Set his nativity 
In ripened fulness of time, 



24 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

For sake of a race to be 

The pledge of a golden prime. 

In lowliest spot he breathed 
His first sweet breath of the earth ; 
And life's great Parent bequeathed 
Fair virginal Nature from birth 
To be his tutor and friend, 
His youthful steps to attend. 

She led o'er the wooded hills 
And flowering prairied vales, 
Along by the summer's rills, 
Against the winter's gales, 
Through sweeps of primeval ills, 
Across the Red Men's trails. 



THE STAR OF SANGAMON. 2$ 

She taught him the songs of birds, 
The sympathy-syllabled words 
Of water and earth and air, 
And pointed the winding stair 
That leads to Heaven, where climb 
The higher forces of time. 

She bound him, that he might feel 
The weight of Oppression's heel ; 
She starved him, that he might learn 
The hunger of souls that yearn ; 
She bruised him, that he might know 
Somewhat of the world's great woe. 

She helmed him with faith ; she placed 
The girdle of strength at his waist ; 



26 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

And over his breast she laid 
The buckler of right ; the blade 
Of truth she set in his hand 
And bade him unwavering stand, 
As Moses stood with his rod, 
For Freedom and God. 

At length in a deathless hour 
She kissed him ; a quickening power 
Shot forth through her lips of fire 
In touch of divine desire. 

One long sweet look of review ; 
Then suddenly from her she threw 
Her manifold mantle of mystery ; 
And, facing the great Before, 



THE STAR OF SANGAMON. 2J 

On unto the famed door 
That opens out into history, 
In radiant rapture she led 
Her hero all panoplied, 
And thrust him from her to be, 
On mission immortal bent, 
Transfigurer of despair, 
The champion of Liberty, 
The hope of a continent, 
God's answer to prayer. 



THE PEOPLE'S KING. 

Not oft such marvel the years reveal, 

Such beauteous thing, 

A People's King, 
The chosen liege of a chosen weal, 

And Liberty's offering. 

Not oft such product the fair world hath, 

A People's Own, 

On mightiest throne, 

Whose strong foundations are Right and Faith, 

And Virtue the corner-stone. 
28 



THE PEOPLE S KING. 29 

Not by earth's bounty was he prepared ; 

Not princely store, 

Nor golden lore, 
Was nurture on which his nature fared 

For strength in the trust he bore ; 



But inner largess of revenue, 

Past time and space, 

The fruits of grace, 
That mellowed upon the tree which grew 

God's food for a famished race. 



In history's mirror he truly saw 
The ages' strife, 



30 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

With passion rife, 
'Neath covenant promise a changeless law- 
Writ clear in its serial life. 

He learned from the centuries' battle-fields 

What heroes are, 

How maim and scar 
Are gloried trophies to him who yields 

Himself to the shocks of war ; 

That patriot sires have taught their sons, 

Since days of eld, 

How Truth is held, 
And Justice fashions a nation's guns 

Never to be repelled. 



THE PEOPLES KING. 3 1 

Thus was it a purpose for valiant deeds, 

Like whitening flame, 

Through all his frame 
Swept burning until his Country's needs 

His one great thought became. 

Thus was it he took in his sovereign hand, 

With face to Fate, 

The orb of state, 
To serve his Country and God, and stand 

To them all consecrate. 



jfort Sumter, 



33 



FORT SUMTER. 

O'ER sea-girt fortress set toward Charleston's 
orient sun 
Columbia's banner waved, and 'neath it, in 

array, 
A noble band stood waiting for the break of 
day, 
And Southland's primal gun. 

Soon from Palmetto shores and isles historic 

burst 

War's first unfilial thunder, and a signal shell 
35 



36 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

Rose screaming seaward over guardian 
citadel, 
Predestined and accurst. 

An omened silence ; then from bastioned shoals 
of ire, 
Raged, blazing under wide and reddened fir- 
mament, 
One hurricane of havoc into swift descent 
Of fierce columbiad fire. 

Guns answered guns, till thrice from morn to 
eventide 
The worn defenders strove behind embat- 
tered bars, 



FORT SUMTER. 37 

And faithful to their Country's hallowed 
Stripes and Stars 
Rebellion's host defied. 

At length, within shot-swept and ravaged ram- 
parts, broke 
Mad conflagration, driven 'neath furious can- 
nonade, 
As if the traitorous Earth had molten wrath 
displayed 
Hurled through volcanian smoke. 

Before resistless storm the standard fell, but 
leapt 
Aloft mid clouds enfuming, and in proud 
disdain 



38 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

Streamed from its splintered staff above the 
wreck and pain 
And vows of soldiers kept. 

Thrust forth by flame and Fate, all honored 
in retreat, 
They unsurrendering went, their banner 

holding fast 
To float thereon again, redeemed, and be at 
last 
Their leader's winding-sheet. 

The die was cast ; Secession's deed flashed to 
renown ; 
The golden South had drunk of her self- 
poisoned cup ; 



FORT SUMTER. 39 

And swift a loyal People's slumberous blood 
rose up 
When Sumter's flag went down. 

And one, a Nation's Prophet, with sad eyes 
afar 
Beholding, steadfast gazed beyond near space 

and time 
Upon the advancing tide, and saw it sweep 
sublime 
The purple paths of war. 






COLUMBIA'S WRATH. 

THE guns that fired on Sumter's walls 
Awoke a Nation ; far and near 
Were cries of anguish, bursts of fear 

And burning judgment calls. 



Beloved Columbia, wounded sore, 

A moment staggered ; then her form 

Rose towering, while a gathering storm 

Her darkening features wore. 
40 



COLUMBIA'S WRATH. 41 

Her flag that waved o'er Southern sea 
Had fallen while she slept ; but now 
The cloud upon her bended brow 

Was certain augury 



Of hastening vengeance, and the fire, 
That flashed from all her kindled tips 
Of being, was apocalypse 

Of purpose swift and dire ; 



Of purpose dire until the Right 

In dust and blood should conquer Wrong ; 

Till mists should lift and morning's song 
Sound through the passing night; 



42 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

Till victor hosts should rise and plant 
That flag on Sumter's height again ; 
And wipe away for aye her stain, 

And sign her covenant, 



Blood-writ across a million graves, 
That, in her undivided land, 
There nevermore should rest a band 

Upon a race of slaves. 






XTbe Gall to Brms. 



43 



THE CALL TO ARMS. 

Beside Columbia stood one 
Begot of Holy Liberty; 
Exalted by her grace to be 

Her favored regnant son. 



That sacred trust his heart and brain 
In swift and sweet devotion drew ; 
And well his loyal nature knew 

The measure of her pain. 

45 



46 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

And all his being rose with hers ; 
Till, facing her intense distress, 
Remembering the faithfulness 

Of past deliverers, 



He took from out his sacred girth 
The golden trumpet which he bore 
Blew such a blast as ne'er before 

Was heard in all the earth ; 



A blast that sounded war's alarms, 

From north to south, from east to west ; 
Columbia's supreme behest, 

The Nation's call to arms. 



TTbe people's 1Response« 



47 



THE PEOPLE'S RESPONSE. 

It rang o'er the startled land 
One sovereign blast of command. 
It rolled from sea unto sea, 
The summons of Liberty. 
It broke 'gainst the scintillant hills, 
Resounding in multiple thrills 
Of wakening thunder. It swept 
Through valleys and over streams 
The militant havoc of dreams 
Of troubled millions that slept. 
It stirred all hearts as it went, 

Arousing a continent. 

4 49 



50 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

The People's answer came ; 
A splendor burst on the night ; 
The crests of the hills were flame ; 
The valleys were lines of light ; 
The winds were voices of trust ; 
A soul was incarnate in dust ; 
The frame of the struggling earth 
Drew nigh to a larger birth. 

The People leapt to their feet, 
Their strength like a giant's brawn, 
Their zeal like a furnace heat, 
Their hope like the widening dawn. 

And up to the throne of Him 
Who reigns 'twixt the cherubim, 









/ 



THE PEOPLES RESPONSE. 5 1 

Mid supplicatory throes 

A vow inviolate rose ; 

That, be it through torturing pain, 

Their banner should rise again ; 

That ne'er should the Federal Stars 

Give place to the Southern Bars ; 

That, under God's judgment sky, 

Rebellion at last should lie 

In overthrow complete 

Beneath Columbia's feet. 

And thus a People quivering stood 
And offered their blood. 

The crags replied to the echoing crags, 
And flags waved answer to flags. 



52 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

O'er wharf and harbor, o'er vale and hill, 

And loyal domicile, 

O'er school and languishing academe 

A banner floated supreme. 

O'er bustling mart and thoroughfare 

One standard streamed to the air. 

From argent turrets and glittering spires 

The pennons of sainted sires 

Were signs of a storied Faith that wore 

Her lustrous robes as of yore. 

The steam-shod chargers of turbulent trade, 

Thundering through meadow and glade, 

Were freighted for Freedom, and southward flew 

Ablaze with the Red, White and Blue. 

And vows were written again and again, 

Till earth was a manuscript, 



THE PEOPLE S RESPONSE. 53 



\ Illuminated by patriot pen 
In triplicate glory dipt. 



The plow was left in the fallow field 

For sake of a larger yield. 

The iron lay cold in the smouldering flame 

Because of a higher claim. 

The rattling shuttle, the whirring loom 

Were hushed at the cannon's boom. 

And over the land the market's hum 

Gave place to the fife and drum. 

The workers, trained for the shop and mill, 

Aspired to a warrior's skill. 

The poet deserted his golden song 

To join the armed throng. 



54 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

The sculptor forsook his half-carved stone 

At sound of the bugle blown. 

Each town and hamlet became a spring 

Of chivalric issuing, 

A living current of sacrifice 

Full-set toward a great emprise. 

The plowshares sprang into glistening swords, 

And pruning-hooks into spears ; 

Love's accents broke into farewell words, 

And laughter to bitter tears. 

Across the threshold the mother gave 

Her son for a soldier's grave ; 

And freely yielded the weeping wife 

The heart of her heart for strife. 

Despair strode in through the gates of home, 

And Hope fled forth to roam. 






THE PEOPLE S RESPONSE. 55 

All hearts were one, and the Nation's soul 

Moved on toward its sacred goal. 

Beneath the sky's cerulean hue 

The hills and the vales were blue. 

The sun flashed down, in its dazzling wheel, 

On billows of bristling steel. 



THE GATHERING OF THE LEGIONS. 

Majestic swept from coast to coast 

Columbia's azure-liveried host. 

From Pilgrim havens, from Pine-Tree shades, 

And over the walls of the Palisades ; 

From Eldorado's aureate sand, 

Past geyser vales of the Wonderland ; 

From linked lakes, from the castled mounds 

Of Gathering Waters, from forest bounds ; 

O'er purple canyons and ferny glens, 

Ravined plateaus and miasmal fens, 

Meridian rivers and prairies wide, 

And granite domes of the Great Divide ; 

From Empire Portal, from Golden Gate, 
56 



THE GATHERING OF THE LEGIONS. $7 

To Country and Liberty consecrate, 
With " Union forever " their rallying cry, 
To stand for the Colors, or under them die, 
By one unfaltering faith controlled, 
The patriot legions onward rolled ; 
On, on, at the clarion call of him 
Who stood with face to a spectre grim, 
And saw, o'er the crests of the surging tide, 
The crimson Furies of Fratricide ; 
On, on, toward the hallowed citadel, 
Where Freedom's chosen guardians dwell ; 
On, on, the myriads swept along, 
With rhythmic tread and with ringing song, 
With heralding bugle and fife and drum : 
" We come, Father Abraham, we come, 
Six hundred thousand strong." 



OUR VOLUNTEERS. 

O SACRED miracle wrought of truth ! 

Of truth and time, 

And love sublime ! 
And through the bloom of perpetual youth, 

The wonder of every clime ! 

O summer of sorrow that gloams afar ! 

Across the years 

Of mists and tears ! 
How beauteous now the memories are 

That halo your Volunteers ! 

58 



OUR VOLUNTEERS. 59 

O Freemen who rose when their Country called ! 

Such patriots those, 

Where else disclose, 
Or lands or seasons by Heaven forestalled, 

Against impetuous foes? 

Immortal Legions that gathered then ! 

When skies were black, 

And Freedom's track 
Lay close by chasms which none could ken, 

And under the tempest's wrack ! 

O Heroes that never shall be forgot ! 
Though life be done, 
And rest be won, 



60 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

And earth be given for blesseder spot 
That needs no light of the sun ! 

Columbia's power supreme shall last, 
Through endless years, 
Beyond all fears, 

The future risen above the past, 
Upheld by her Volunteers. 



XTbe price of 3Ltt>ert£, 



61 



THE PRICE OF LIBERTY. 

THE price of liberty is patriot blood. 
Thus is it written with the dripping sword 
Across the pages of the ages past. 
Where'er uplifted stands the crowned Good, 
Beneath her bleeding feet lies Evil's horde, 
Defiant and contending to the last. 

So was it that the azure sky of noon 
Should darken, and calm Nature terrified 
Should tremble in the fierce and thun- 
derous jar ; 
So was it that the flowered fields of June 
Should redden, and aeolian summer-tide 
Grow strident with the agony of war. 

63 



BULL RUN. 

LONG lines of steel in the morning, 
Wide winding columns of blue ; 
The Sabbath's hush, 
The dawn's sweet flush, 
Brave hearts all failure scorning 
And fresh as the glistening dew. 

High noon o'er the trampled meadows 
And Bull Run's crimsoned stream ; 

Hot shot and shell 

And swaths of Hell ; 

Bold forms in the flaming shadows 

Aface to a fiery dream. 
6 4 



BULL RUN. 65 

Dust-clouds in the evening rising, 
Fresh hope to a turning foe ; 
Tumultuous flight, 
Blood, rapine and night ; 

The Nation's heart agonizing, 

A clamor of fear and woe. 

5 



TLhc nation's propbet, 



6 7 



THE NATION'S PROPHET. 

The hour was come, and with it rose the man 
Ordained of God and fashioned for the hour ; 
The savior of a race ; 
For whom wrought ever, since the world began, 
The subtle energies of thought and power 
In lineal lines of grace. 

Incarnate Conscience ; Right's embodiment ; 

Benignant Nature's generous bequest 
In mind and feature writ ; 
Life's lore and legends into wisdom blent ; 

Past verities to present truth compressed ; 

The People's composite. 
69 



70 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

A master-soul was his that gazing saw 
The refluent tide of battle, felt the fires 
That swept all withering ; 
A master-soul, set to a higher law, 

That heard above the Earth's despairing 
quires 
Of heavenly promise sing. 



THE NIGHT OF SORROW. 

THE skies withdrew their guidings ; star by 
star 
Fled from the circuit of engulfing cloud ; 
The moon eclipsed glowed 
Unbeauteous beyond her lurid bar ; 

And forth, inexpiate and crimson-browed, 
Carnage emblazoned strode. 

The midnight deepened, and war's widening 
way 
Shook 'neath his clangorous tread all uncon- 
trolled. 

71 



72 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

The winds were bruiting breath 
Of Consternation laden with red spray ; 

And happenings were spectres that foretold 
Impending doom and death. 

And Pain was myriad-throated ; and Despair 
Waxed flagrant with unloosed and vagrant 
tongue ; 
Terror's envenomed pack 
Tore at the bosom of scarce-struggling Prayer ; 
Distrust o'er pallid Faith her mantle flung, 
Along war's ghastly track. 



THE VIGIL. 

And one beside Columbia's prostrate form 
Watched, in lone vigil, from his regent height 
The Nation's hopes decline ; 
And set intrepid breast against the storm, 
Facing the fury of inflamed despite, 
Waiting celestial sign ; 

While through the fiery rifts his worn eyes 
strained 
Past wastes of graves, where hosts, once glis- 
tening, 

Now silent prisoners lay ; 
73 



74 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

And saw with priceless blood the green earth 
stained, 
And war's low-flying vultures, wing to wing, 
Disaster and Dismay. 

Seven times refined by fire, his mediate soul 
Heard the unburthening and ascending woes 
Of serried sacrifice, 
The anguished sighings of his People, roll 
Up to the throne of God ; and felt the 
throes 
Of supplication rise ; 

And caught the wailings from expanses higher 
Of multitudes that 'neath the altar cried, 
" How long, O Lord, how long ? 



THE VIGIL. 75 

How long ere Justice shall her rod acquire? 
How long ere Vengeance forth in might shall 
ride 
Against Earth's hoary wrong ? " 



And, far uplifted on the slopes of grace, 

His soul, in prayer impassioned, touched 
with God 
Through puissant lengths of faith ; 
When, lo, before him flashed from farther 
space, 
Cloud-clothed, with rainbowed brow and feet 
fire-shod, 
Above the tempest's path, 



j6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

His troubled Country's Guardian Hierarch, 
Imperious by Earth's supreme demand 
And Heaven's august decree; 
In flaming splendor vanquishing the dark, 
Pointing past duty with directing hand 
Down ways of victory. 



THE VOICE OF DESTINY. 

The hour was come, and in that hour he stood 
Responsive to the sacred voice that spake 
From Heaven and earth and sea. 
He heard the dusky toiling multitude 

Plaintively pleading that his hand should 
break 
Their bonds and set them free. 



He heard the voice of God from shining height, 

Who, for the reason of the Nation's sin, 

Had held her armies back 
77 



78 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

In failure and defeat, till she should right 
The wrongs herself had sanctioned, and 
should win 
Justice unto her track ; 



When, girded with the strength of righteous- 
ness, 
God for her, with descending seraphim, 
Above the battle's tide, 
She then would march to triumph, and possess 
A land united to the farthest rim, 
Through sorrow purified. 



Ube Stroke of Justice. 



79 



THE STROKE OF JUSTICE. 

THE hour was come, the Nation's crucial hour; 
A crisis of the world, a turn of time ; 
The ages' hope and dream. 
And one undaunted soul, sinewed with power, 
Freedom's anointed, rose to height sublime, 
Imperial and supreme ; 



And, lifting high o'er groaning multitude 

His sovereign sceptre, smote with such a 

stroke 

The chains of centuries, 
8. 



82 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

That earth was shaken to its farthest rood ; 
That millioned manacles asunder broke, 
And myriad properties 



Became, in one immortal moment, — men ; 
Free with the free in all the rounded earth ; 
Redeemed by martyr blood; 
To stand with faces to the light again, 

Attaining through their resurrection birth, 
To human brotherhood. 



THE DAWN. 

THE shadows slowly lifted from the sun ; 
The benediction splendors downward rolled, 
Fore-flush of day to be ; 
The Nation's Prophet stood, his mission done, 
Upon the covenant mountains, aureoled 
With immortality. 

The shadows slowly lifted, and the Land 
Grew glad, e'en though the blood of heroes 
veined 
Her fair and sacred face ; 
For Right at last had risen to command, 
And Justice had in her Republic gained 
Her high and holy place. 

83 



TObe Bpotbeosts. 



85 



THE APOTHEOSIS. 

To one superior peak, before untrod, 

Alone he clomb, the summons heard by- 
naught 
Save his interior soul ; 
The Nebo of his life, the mount of God 
All luminous ; and marvelling he caught 
Swift vision of the goal 

Of his unwavering faith, the Promised Land 
Toward which his feet had led his People on 
O'er wastes of blood and fire ; 

And gazing saw the breadths of grace expand, 
Apocalyptic in the halcyon dawn 

Of centuried desire. 

87 



88 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

He saw across the lessening hurricane 
His Country's armies march to victory ; 
And, lifted to the light, 
The Stars and Stripes in glory wave again, 
Invincible, the standard of the free, 
The sacred sign of right. 



He saw the battle-clouds disperse for aye ; 
The camp-fires of the Nation smouldering ; 
A million veterans tread 
The smiling paths along the homeward way, 
Expectant gates of welcome open swing, 
And feasts of gladness spread. 



THE APOTHEOSIS. 89 

The vision widened, and the distant view 
Grew clearer till the fugitive forecast 
Of far horizons shone ; 
And earth became a thronged avenue 
With multitudes processional that passed 
Before his prophet throne. 



He saw the golden South refashioned rise, 
Transcending all her dreams imperial, 
To greatening power and fame ; 
A deeper azure in her bending skies, 

Increasing wealth of nature quickening all 
Her strong and beauteous frame. 



90 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

He saw the argent North anew inspired, 
Beneath her holy chrism, to truer love 
For her rich heritage, 
The revenue of sacrifice acquired 

In service, which, from hallowed founts above, 
Shall flow through every age. 



He saw the wounds of war in Union healed ; 
No North, no South ; from sea to mountain 
tip 
One land, one flag for aye ; 
And kindred blood, mixt on the battle-field, 
Cementing, in perpetual fellowship, 
The Nation's Blue and Gray. 



THE APOTHEOSIS. 91 

He saw the marble columns 'gainst the sky ; 
The flowered garlands o'er the palls of green ; 
The gathered worshippers 
Conning the story that 'tis sweet to die 
For Country, and to win the prize serene 
A grateful world confers. 



The splendor spread to its meridian prime, 
And earth lay fruited 'neath the noon's 
caress ; 
He saw from zone to zone 
The feet of Love upon the crests of Time, 
The hand of Peace dispensing blessedness 
From Freedom's central throne. 



92 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

He saw the upward march of centuries ; 
He heard the gloried sweeps of gratitude 
Above the glad earth rise, 
Antiphonal with strains of heavenly bliss, 
The diapasons of beatitude, 
Hymnings of Paradise. 



Listening, he heard the sweet adagios 
Of quiring angels, and the morning song 
Of the redeemed and free ; 
And was not, for God took him ; and he rose 
Caught to the bosom of that martyr throng 
Who died for Liberty. 



THE VOICE OF MARTYRDOM. 

In the great world there are no accidents ; 
Enthroned above the ages' ebb and flow, 
Unseen, misunderstood, 
God rules, who in all seasons and events, 
Through fiery evil and o'erwhelming woe, 
Forever works the good. 



And God hath wrought the good ; forevermore 
The million-mouthed cries of martyrdom 
Are one immortal voice, 
That sounds triumphant o'er the mighty roar 
Of instant days and centuries to come, 
And bids the world rejoice. 

93 



94 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

Rejoice that Freedom's gifts the earth adorn, 
And every path is open thoroughfare 
Won on the fields of strife ; 
That man may mount to highways of the 
morn, 
With Faith the light, and Hope the fragrant 
air, 
And Charity the life. 



XTbe pledge of 1fofstor£, 



95 



THE PLEDGE OF HISTORY. 

Columbia, great Mother ; through all lands 
The memory of her storied prowess runs 

And glorified expands. 

Columbia enfreedomed ; thus she stands, 
Behind the bulwark of her noble sons, 

Robed in her starry bands. 

Behold her risen from embattled plains, 
More beautiful by all her holy scars 

And sacred martial stains ! 

What grace and wisdom her proud form attains ! 

With sheathed sword beneath her Stripes 

and Stars 

How tranquilly she reigns ! 
97 



98 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

Her realm is of all realms the goodliest, 
The fairest of the new Hesperides ; 

A zone of fulness blest 

With golden fruits unfound in ancient quest, 
And gladdening wine all sweet unto the lees ; 

The free and welcoming West. 



She knows the bitter of Oppression's gall ; 

She knows the taste of Freedom's nectared 
cheer ; 
And when the sorrowing call, 
E'en though it be beyond her ocean wall, 

Remembering her past, shall she not hear 
And Liberty forestall? 



THE PLEDGE OF HISTORY. 99 

For high and holy ends God made her strong, 
And set her on the sacred heights of trust, 

The constant foe of wrong. 

Her forces unto Righteousness belong, 

That prostrate forms may rise from out the 
dust, 

And sighing change to song. 



Never shall she forget, as years speed on, 
That unto God her virgin troth was given ; 

That 'neath His benison 

The mighty triumphs of her past were won ; 
And so for her the stars shall strive from 
Heaven, 

If righteous deeds be done. 



IOO ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

Columbia enthroned ; through all time 

Swift answering to Freedom ; they who rose 

For sake of her sublime, 

Are pledge that ever, as the race shall climb 
Yet higher, she shall point to paths that 
close 

Upon the ages' prime. 






OUR SOLDIERS. 

O Soldiers, who stood for the Flag of our 
Nation ! 
Columbia's children can never forget, 
How you, through the grace of your sacred 
oblation, 
Her honor and glory invincible set. 

Behold the proud Banner of Liberty streaming ! 
The Flag of our Union, the Red, White and 
Blue ! 
Its Stripes all undimmed and its Stars ever 
beaming, 
Baptized in the blood of the brave and the 
true. 

IOI 



102 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

You marched and were weary, you fought and 
were wounded, 

You fell in the battle, you sank in the storm ; 
But out of your sacrifice Heaven has rounded 

The hope of the ages to beauteous form. 

Across the scarred fields of your struggles im- 
mortal, 
In rev'rent reviewing the hosts of the free 
Shall trace the red paths which you trod to 
Fame's portal, 
And sacredly pledge through the years that 
will be, 

To follow unswerving your feet of devotion, 
Inspired by your holy and generous deeds ; 



OUR SOLDIERS. 103 

And filled with a pure and a patriot emotion, 
Be true in their Country's imperative needs. 

Upon the firm granite the marvellous story 
Of valor, with chisel of love, is engraved ; 

The ages shall read, and exalt to new glory 
The crimson-stained banner you gallantly 
saved. 

Around the green mounds where your forms 
lie a-sleeping, 
The People shall gather again and again ; 
And, blessing your memories, place in your 
keeping 
The palms of thanksgiving, the laurels of 
pain. 



104 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

All quickened by Duty's ensanguined libation, 
A Nation's new flower has bloomed from the 
clay; 
The sweet asphodel of a fresh consecration, 
Sprung out of the graves of the Blue and the 
Gray. 

Pass on, O our Soldiers, to heavenly capture ! 

We follow swift after beneath your renown ; 
Pass on to the bivouac of rest and of rapture ! 

Behind you our freedom, before you your 
crown. 



Ube Xanfc of promise, 



105 



THE LAND OF PROMISE. 

The mists on the mountain peaks 
Melt fleet in the glad new morn ; 
The hope of the world is born ; 

The Sphinx of the ages speaks. 

The wrinkled forehead of Time 

Responds to his laughing soul ; 

The runner has reached the goal ; 

And all things fall into rhyme. 
107 



108 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

The winds are poets, and sing 
September back into June ; 
The radiant asters swoon, 

All purpling toward the Spring. 



The bitter is changed to sweet ; 

The bruises of battle heal ; 

And Peace stands again at the wheel, 
And turns it with glowing feet. 



O God-given Occident! 

O Land of Promise ! whose sphere 
Is Nature's enlarged career 

And Spirit's divine ascent ; 



THE LAND OF PROMISE. 109 

Reserved for the fulness of days 
Through haze of the desert past ! 
A Canaan revealed at last 

Of fruited and flowered ways I 



From sea to the granite hills, 
From crests of snow to the sea, 
Rush, flashing with energy, 

Innumerous crystal rills. 



The mountains impatient stand 
For mystic call of desire ; 
The vales inviting conspire 

For magic touch of command ; 



IIO ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

Expectant of labor's keys, 

Strong-wrought at the forge of hope, 
Their subterrene doors to ope, 

Disclosing earth's treasuries ; 



Great inner chambers of gold, 
And vaults of potential heat, 
Primeval power's retreat, 

The store of the ages old ; 



The store of the ages new, 

And force for the higher trend, 
Where Nature and Spirit blend 

In rise toward the blazoned blue. 



THE LAND OF PROMISE. Ill 

Fair Land from the sea to the sea 
Awaiting the great To-be ! 



Fulfilment of Liberty's dream, 
The voice of the People supreme ! 



The throne of Justice secure, 
The rights of man to endure ! 



The home of the world's oppressed, 
The earth's great hearthstone of rest ! 



112 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



All barriers broken down, 
And every man with a crown ! 



One Union never to fall ! 
One Flag afloat over all ! 



THE END. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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